ENGLISH – Fireball which illuminates sky above Great Britain and Northern Europe on February 28 last is kind meteorit which is very rare. Rock fragments outer space The driveways found in the Cotswolds can provide answers to questions about history early solar system and life of Earth.
Scientists say nearly 300 grams of the meteorite have been collected from the small town of Gloucestershire on Winchcombe. Scientists say the rock was formed from carbonaceous chondrites. It is one of the most primitive and pure substances in the solar system and is known to contain organic matter and amino acids – the ingredients for life.
The Natural History Museum in London said the fragments were retrieved in excellent condition and so quickly after the fall of the meteorite that they could be compared to rock samples returned from the space mission, both in quality and quantity.
“I was shocked when I saw it and immediately knew it was a rare meteorite and a truly unique event. It was very emotional to be the first to confirm to the people standing in front of you that the thump they had heard in the driveway overnight was in fact the thing that was. real, “said Richard Greenwood, a planetary science researcher at the Open University, in a statement from the museum. He is the first scientist to identify the meteorite.
The museum says there are about 65,000 known meteorites on Earth. Only 1,206 meteorites have fallen, and of these, only 51 are carbonaceous chondrites.
The fireball was seen by thousands of eyewitnesses across Britain and Northern Europe and was caught by home surveillance and other cameras when it fell to Earth at 9:54 p.m. GMT on February 28th.
The original space rock moved at a speed of nearly 14 kilometers per second before crashing into Earth’s atmosphere and finally landing on the driveway at Winchcombe. Other meteorite fragments have been found in the local area.
The museum says footage of the fireball taken by the public and the British Fireball Alliance camera network helped locate the meteorite and pinpoint where it originated in the solar system.
“Nearly all meteorites come to us from asteroids, the remains of the material that make up the solar system that can tell us how planets like Earth formed. The chance to be one of the first to see and study a meteorite discovered soon after a fall is a dream come true ! ”, Explains Ashley King, British researcher and future leader in the Museum’s earth sciences department.
Meteorites are much older than any rock on Earth. The museum explains they usually travel for thousands of years through space before being captured – usually by the sun, but occasionally by Earth.
As these cosmic objects move through the atmosphere, they sometimes produce bright fireballs before landing on Earth, as happened with this meteorite.
The museum said the space rock found was similar to a sample recently returned to Earth from space by Japan’s Hayabusa2 mission, which returned about 5.4 grams of fragments from the asteroid Ryugu according to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.
More meteorite fragments – which may be found as black rock, small rock piles or even dust – may yet be found.
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